[Businessmtg] Topic Chair Service Position Requirements

[Steve Rankin]

Hi Savannah,
Excellent questions.  Since I am currently the acting Secretary, I'll answer your questions.  Of course, if someone else was the Secretary, then they may well make different decisions and that is OK.  That's because at ASP we give our officers responsibilities and corresponding authorities, but we do not as a general rule give them specific "how to" instructions.  
The Daily Chair service position rotates every six months; on January 1st and July 1st.  The Secretary announces the upcoming rotation in ample time to receive responses from volunteers, set up the schedule and train the new volunteers so the rotation goes smoothly.  Personally, I try to start the process about 3 weeks in advance, and most of the time I receive at least 7 volunteers.  Only once have I received less than 7 volunteers.  My M.O. for accepting volunteers at ASP for ANY service position has been first-come, first served.  That has been true since ASP started.  The only exceptions are those that (a) have not been a member of ASP long enough , or (b) are already serving in that position.  In other words, if someone has only been a member of ASP for 4 months, I ask them to stick around and volunteer again the next time - this is true regardless of how long the member has been in Al-Anon.  I really don't care if someone has been in Al-Anon for 40 years.  In fact, my personal feelings are that they already had opportunities to serve Al-Anon and I would rather give a newer member opportunity to serve and grow through service.  The other exception involves a member that served the last rotation and volunteered to serve again, but on a different day.  While our Daily Chairs serve for six months and our prerequisite for service to be on the Steering Committee is a year, I try to avoid what I call "rotating in place" or "musical chairs".  More than once I have had someone currently serving as a Daily Chair ask to serve the next term.  Each time, I have passed them over in favor of a someone that is either a first timer or has skipped a term before volunteering again.  
As for the question of what happens if someone simply stops doing the job, or needs a week off?
1. Someone needs a week off.  My first response is to offer them the opportunity to draft their opening for the upcoming date they need off, then send their opening to me.  Then, I set up my computer to post their opening on time.  So far, I've had 100% take that opportunity.  If that doesn't work, then the responsibility for posting the opening falls on the Secretary, who can post their own opening for that day. 
2. A Daily Chair goes AWOL.  Again, the Secretary is responsible for the functioning of the Daily Chair, which means that the Secretary has the authority to (a) post the Opening(s) for the missing Daily Chairperson, or (b) the Secretary may appoint a new Daily Chair to replace the missing member.
ASP Motion #22 states "Responsible for the Daily Chairpersons in the ASP meeting".  
Since responsibility comes with the commensurate authority to perform the tasks they are responsible for, the Secretary has the authority to make appropriate the decisions they need to make.  Naturally, a good Secretary will also inform their fellow officers on the Steering Committee of the problem they are encountering, and perhaps seeks some guidance.  However, the Secretary does not need the permission of the Steering Committee to make an appropriate decision.  
My personal experience, combined with my observation over the years is that I only recall seeing one instance of a Secretary seeming to have a problem recruiting at least seven Daily Chairs, and as I recall the Secretary in that instance was a bit tardy in announcing the upcoming rotation.  The announcement was made only about a week before the rotation was to occur, which led to a last minute announcement to fill the positions - all of which were filled in time.
My personal method is to make an announcement about 3 weeks in advance.  It typically takes 2-3 days to receive at least 7 responses and fill the slate.  
Hugs,
Steve







-----Original Message-----
From: Businessmtg On Behalf Of Savannah Sanchez via Businessmtg
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2022 1:09 PM
To: steve at serenitysys.com
Cc: ASP Business <businessmtg at asp-afg.org>
Subject: [Businessmtg] Topic Chair Service Position Requirements

Jerry,
I can see your frustration in having to fill in on more than one position at times. I am always amazed at how well ASP works. I am quick to assume its a fine tuned engineer always running in the background, never assuming that sometimes positions are filled or get vacated half way through their term. The first time a chair position opened up after my initially joining ASP, I wanted to volunteer, but hadn't met the criteria yet. I did volunteer one other time, but they had all been filled. But then there was a few terms I didn't volunteer for personal reasons. I remember that Steve said if "life happens" for a week, he could fill in, but what is the long term solution? What happens if someone just stops showing up to ASP? Is there a set time line, like after 3 weeks of them not doing their chair, how does the position get filled until the 6 month term is up? It sounds like the LA or Secretary have been doing that, but what is there a back up chair that takes over long term in that kind of situation. Sorry if I sound unsure, I am still learning. 

And even as I type it all out, I can see how it just gets complicated. If I'm a back up, how would that work? Because my life would be happening also and suddenly I'm filling in at last minute? But I guess I would also kind of expect it if I saw a chair suddenly not posting and I could be prepared to help. Sorry, all of this is me trying to speak up and learn the process so that I can be part of the 10% that does show up to serve. 

Savannah


 
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